Venetian blind slat route



B. 'WALKER 2,872,975

VENETIAI I BLIND SLAT ROUTE Feb. 10, 1959 Filed June 5, 1955 IN VEN TOR.

MIMJWM United States Patent VENETIAN BLlND SLAT ROUTE Brooks Walker,Piedmont, Calif.

Application June 5, 1953, Serial No. 359,733 2" Claims. ('Cl 160 -173)This invention pertains to improvements to Venetian blind slats andparticularly the route holes by which the slats can be secured tothecross rungs of the ladder tape to improve the stability of the slatsand to prevent flutter and displacement of the slats when exposed towind, or when brushed against draperies, clothing, et cetera.

Applicants co-pending patent application, Serial No.

293,588, now U. S. Patent 2,670,037 issued February 23, 1954, by Mr. E.J. Hunter, and assigned to applicant, covers another form of tonguewhich secures the slat to the ladder tape but does not provide the crossbars which prevent the lift cord when located in the route hole fromgetting caught in the cutout at the edge of the tongues. It has beenfound that under certain conditions if cross bars are not providedbetween the route hole for the lift cord and the ends of the tonguesthat either when originally threading the lift cords through the slatsin making the blind or under other conditions where the slats may havebeen displaced through cleaning, et cetera, it is possible for the liftcords either to bend the tongues permanently and get caught between thesides of the tongue and the main body of the slat. Applicants structurewith tongues and continuous bars connecting the sides of the slat andcompletely enclosing the lift cord in the route hole eliminates thisdifiiculty, does not add any parts to the slat to accomplish the purposeas it only requires a different type of die to punch applicantsstructure and nothing has to be added.

Other features of the invention will be more particularly pointed out inthe accompanying specifications and claims I have illustrated.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly cut away, showing one form of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the lift cord andladder tape with the tongue on the slat engaging the cross rung.

Fig. 3 is a plan view taken at section 33 of Fig. 1 and somewhatenlarged.

On all figures like numerals of reference refer to corresponding partsin the various views.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have shown a Venetian blind with a headrail 10, atilt rail 9, a tilt mechanism 11 operated by tilt cords 14, a pivot 12for the other end of the tilt rod 9, lift cords 30 and 31 passingthrough recesses in the headrail 10 held in the blind raised position bycord lock 13. These lift cords pass between staggered ladder rungs 19,although the same construction will work equally well if there aredouble ladder rungs, one on each side of the lift cords at each slatstation. The lift cords 30 and 31 respectively pass through holes Ewhich are preferably just wide enough to freely clear the lift cord 31,as shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3.

As is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the route hole or cord receiving openingSE is disposed intermediate the opposite side edges of each slat 5 andis elongated transversely of said edges. Each slat is further providedwith a pair of 2,872,975 Patented Feb. 10, 1959 ice thereof are disposedadjacent opposite ends of the cord receiving opening and are elongatedlongitudinally of the slat.

Relatively narrow bars 5C and 5D are disposed between the cord receivingopening 5E and adjacent ends of the tape rung receiving openings 5F andthe bars are unitary with the slat.

The slat is slit or provided with a cut-out section 56 adjacent each ofsaid bars and parallel therewith thereby providing tape rung engagingtongues 5A and 53 whose opposite side edges are defined by the inner oradjacent edges of said tape rung receiving openings 5F. These tonguesmay have a gap between their ends and the side bars closest to them, asshown in Figs. 2 and 3, or they may merely be a cut section of the slatso that the end of the tongue actually touches the cross bar next to it,depending upon the way the die that forms the route holes is made. Theslats 5 are supported in spaced relationship by ladder tapes 2t} and 21by means of the cross rungs 19 which connect the side members of thecross tapes in the conventional or suitable manner. The bottom of theladder tapes 20 and 21 is secured to bottom rail 25' by suitable means,such as tacks, or staples 22. The lift cords 30 and 31 are likewisesecured to the bottom rail 25 by suitable means, such as a knot in thecord resting in a recess in the bottom rail or any other suitable means.Any other type of headrail and bottom rail or bottom weights may be usedin the blind as this invention pertains solely to the route hole orpunching of the slat to provide tongues, a route hole between thetongues, and an enclosure for the route hole so that the lift cordcannot get caught in the space between the sides of the tongues and themain body of the slat or, in general, so that the enclosure of the routehole formed from the main slat body prevents contact of the lift cordwith the tongues. This also prevents the possibility of the lift corddeflecting or permanently bending the tongues under unusual serviceconditions.

When the blind embodying this invention is made up, it may be deliveredto the customer without first engaging the tongues with the cross rungsto save that manufacturing cost. The housewife or purchaser of theblinds may then be instructed on the engagement of the tongues to getstability of the slats where the slats are going to be located in frontof an open Window; in an area exposed to wind, where they may contactdrapes; or where people, animals, clothing, et cetera, may contact theblinds to cause the slats to get out of place. Under these conditionsthe tongues should be engaged for the entire blind or that portion ofthe blind which is exposed to any slat-displacing conditions.

Similarly, the same punch punched on some or all of the slats near thecenter of a blind having three or more tapes can be used to lock theintermediate tapes to the slats to prevent displacement of theintermediate tapes and keep them always in line with the side tapes andthe ends of the slats.

With this construction it is not necessary to add any parts to the slatsor the tapes in order to accomplish this stability. The lift cord isprevented from contacting or catching in or near the tongues because thewidth of the tongue extends over a substantial length of the slat (byusually less than the width of the ladder tapes). The slats have muchmore flexibility without taking a permanent set than slats which havebeen punched for a conventional route hole only, where the addedflexibility is only for the much shorter length of the route hole.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselveswithout departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

-I claim as my invention:

1. A Venetian blind slat provided with a lift cord receiving openingintermediate the opposite side edges thereof and being elongatedtransversely of said edges,

adjacent edges of said rung receiving openings, and the free end of saidtongue being disposed adjacent said bar.

2. A Venetian blind slat, provided with a lift cord receiving openingintermediate the opposite side edges thereof and being elongatedtransversely thereof, a pair of tape rung receiving openings in saidslat at each side v4 7 of said lift cord receiving opening, the openingsof each of said pairs thereof being disposed adjacent opposite ends ofsaid lift cord receiving. opening and being disposed longitudinally oftheslat, and the material of said slat between the openings of each pairthereof being slit in parallel and spaced relation to an adjacent edgeof the lift cord receiving opening providing a flexible rung engagingtongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,061,548 Cameron Nov. 24, 1936 2,072,464 Nisenson Mar. 2, 19372,297,996 Wolfe Oct. 6, 1942 2,311,716 Walker Feb. 23, 1943 2,471,710Adler May 31, 1949 2,480,993 Adler v Sept. 6, 1949 2,570,018 WilliamsonOct. 2, 1951 2,572,896 Walker Oct. 30, 1951 2,576,159 Walker Nov. 27,1951 2,576,160 Walker Nov. 27, 1951 2,670,037 Hunter Feb. 23, 1954

